MERL and Design: Strengthening Participatory Approaches, Qualitative Data, and Prototyping Designs through Collaboration

MERL and Design teams use research, but their end goal and processes can evolve separately based on the nature of their work. Even among colleagues within an organization, the purpose and value addition of these teams can often get confused, overlap, or even compete for resources. What does an effective collaboration between a MERL and Design team look like? What are its benefits? We will take participants through the iDE Innovation Lab’s design process and discuss how to identify where MERL teams get involved, and how the strengths of each team can support the work of the other.